VanDread: Phoenix Flight
by BlurtheHedgehog
Summary: Summary: bored and lonely, these two words best describe Kenny. He wishes he had a better life, little does he know how much that wish will bite him in the rear.
1. Chapter 1

**VanDread: Phoenix Flight**

_By: Blur the Hedgehog_

Disclaimer: Blur the Hedgehog does not own VanDread. It belongs to its respective owners and subsidiaries.

Summary: bored and lonely, these two words best describe Kenny. He wishes he had a better life, little does he know how much that wish will bite him in the rear.

Prolog

The sky was dark that night as there were so few stars in the heavens. The ominous clouds in the sky were mercifully scattered dimming the full moon light. The long woodland road was quiet except for a soft breeze blowing in the trees. The rustling of the leaves was slightly eerie but relaxing. The serenity of this scene was rudely interrupted by the sound of a two-stroke engine.

It was a custom chopper designed to look like a firebird. The handlebar and headlight section was shaped like a bird head. The gas tank was painted like a fireball. The seat was leather and had a hotrod flame design stitched into it. The rims of the wheels looked like eagle talons. The exhaust pipes were shaped like folded bird wings. This machines name was phoenix.

This story has more to do with the man riding the bike than the bike itself. He wore black denim pants and brown biker boots. Brown belts with a bird talon buckle adorn his waist. A red cotton t-shirt and a leather jacket rest upon his broad shoulders. He wore a deep blue helmet over his curly brown hair. His blue eyes were reflected on the visor. He was driving home from work.

_Why is my life so boring_? The rider asked himself. _I have the most monotonous life any one could have. I really need to have something happen to get away from melancholy._

Suddenly the clouds started to swirl and lightning cracked across the sky. The rider looked up and felt an odd presence in the air. A huge bolt struck the road and turned into a tornado of energy flowing to the sky. He was being pulled toward it, even though the rider stopped his bike. The vortex moved in his direction. He poured on the gas and drove away from it.

_I did not mean that literally!_ The rider thought looking back. The vortex seemed to be tracking him as he waved back and forth on the road. His bike caught a stone and that was enough to get him airborne and was pulled into the raging wind. Energy surged through his body and a voice boomed in his mind.

"_What is the proof of your existence?"_ the voice demanded in a loud authorative voice.

"I am the one who needs answers pal!" the rider shouted back, "what you're doing is the same as kidnapping. I don't care if you're some kind of god, I'll beat you black and blue if you don't release me this minute."

"_You would go against the heavens?" _the voice asked.

"Hell yeah I would!" the rider asserted.

"_Then it seems it is time for you to go where you are truly needed." _The voice stated as another surge of energy pulsed outward.

The rider screamed in agony as his body felt like it was being torn apart at the atomic level. He thought he was being killed and tried to fight back. The strain was too much for him and he blacked out. As he came out of unconsciousness, the first thing he noticed was that he was lying in some kind of bed. It was a lumpy bed at that. The blanket that he was wrapped in was rather itchy. Whatever structure he was in, it was also rather hot. He sat up and saw a dish of weird pellets and a glass of water next to him.

"Oh man that is nasty." The rider stated after he sampled one of the pellets, "Bland and dry like gerbil food."

"That's kind of all there is here on Tarak." A male voice said to his left. He turned to the voice and saw a boy in his mid to late teens. "You're kind of lucky I found you and not one of the higher ups. They might have taken you to a lab and cut you open."

"Well there is a pleasant thought." The rider stated while forcing himself to eat more of the pellets. "So where in Vermont is Tarak?"

"Vermont?" the teen asked tilting his head to the side "Is that even in this galaxy?"

"Wait a second!" the rider stated holding his hands up. "Are you really telling me you have never heard of Vermont?" the teen shook his head. "Or the United states either?" the teen shook his head again. "How about earth, then?"

"Wait you are from earth!" the teen shrieked at this information. "But how come you have those eyes and ears?"

"What?" the rider said. He dumped the food pellets and looked at his reflection. He still had blue eyes but they were now cat-like. He looked at the top of his head and saw a pair of cat ears. _Did that energy storm do this to me?_ Then another thought struck him.

"Where is phoenix?" the rider asked franticly. He tried to get out of the bed only to have a sharp pain flash through his body.

"Take it easy." The teen stated, pushing the rider down. "You took a really nasty fall earlier. You must be blessed by Grand Pa to have survived at all."

"Okay, okay!" the rider stated as he relaxed into the bed again, "However, I still want to know where she is and if she is alright."

"Wait a second," the teen gasped in horror, "phoenix is a woman!"

"She is a custom chopper. She was designed to look like a firebird." The rider explained. The teen relaxed a little after hearing phoenix was a machine. "She is an idea I had given physical form. She is also the closest I have to a daughter."

"Well," the teen said feeling nervous again, "**She** is down in a rarely used storage locker down by the factory. **She **is an impressive piece of machinery. I hope you don't get too mad, but I modified **her** engine and drive system to work with the power cells that are common on Tarak." Every time the teen referred to the bike as a she, he seemed be having a hard time saying it.

"Thank you for doing that." The rider said, as he felt relieved at this. "Could I get the name of my care taker?"

"The name is Hibiki Tokai." The teen stated pounding his chest.

"Kenny Gerald Lamell." The rider stated offering a handshake.

(End Prolog.)


	2. Chapter 2

VanDread: Phoenix Flight

By: Blur the Hedgehog

Disclaimer: Blur the Hedgehog does not own VanDread. It belongs to its respective owners and subsidiaries.

Summary: bored and lonely, these two words best describe Kenny. He wishes he had a better life; little does he know how much that wish will bite him in the rear.

Chapter one: Pirate Problem

Six months may not seem a long time to some, but it is when you are used to a certain life style. He had gotten used to the food pills that were the main source of nutrition on Tarak. He had gotten used to the tri-level cast system. He was used to working at the factory. However, the thing he could not get used to was the fact that there was not a single solitary woman on this ball of sand. He saw how the next generation of Tarak was born; the brown haired, blue-eyed man had gone to one of the special factories. It was like something from a sci-fi movie.

"So need to get off this rock." The man said as he packed his things. He wore black denim pants and brown biker boots. Brown belts with a bird talon buckle adorn his waist. A red cotton t-shirt and a leather jacket rest upon his broad shoulders. He had had enough; he was going to get off Tarak one way or another.

"Hey Kenny," a voice across from him said, "Why are we doing this again?" The voice belonged to his friend Hibiki, a local teen factory worker. He wore baggy black pants and black boots. He had a tan tunic over a long sleeved spandex like shirt.

"Don't you remember, Hibiki." Kenny stated as he reached over and smacked his friend on the head, "You and I were in the mess hall a few days ago."

(Flashback: four days, twelve hours, six minutes and thirteen seconds ago.)

Hibiki and Kenny were walking into the mess hall with their trays. They saw the same yahoos saying the same bull shit as always. One stood up on a table holding a part in his hands. As Kenny and Hibiki got their food, the man with the part stated, "This is what our hard work has produced. This is what all of our hopes and dreams have been put into. This part is what goes into the making of the new vanguard fighters." The part in question had a scratch on it that looked like an Old Norse rune. "Just the other day a guy came to me saying he could get us a completed vanguard with this very part on it. That man is none other than our very own," at this point he raised a finger toward the table Hibiki and Kenny sat, "Hibiki Tokai!"

Everyone in the room looked over to them with one question on their minds. The man with the part asked the question everyone thought. "Hey, Hibiki, can you really get us a vanguard? Are you really going to steal one or is all you said just talk?"

"If you want a vanguard that badly I'll get you one." Hibiki shouted as he had enough of this badmouthing. Every man cheered happily.

"I have a special project I have worked on for a while." Kenny chirped getting everyone's attention. "If you can get it onboard the Ikazuchi, Hibiki and I can get that vanguard."

(Flashback end.)

"After I told them what and where it was," Kenny said as he and Hibiki made their way to the launch platform for the Ikazuchi, "They confirmed it was onboard."

"Oh right." Hibiki said giving himself a mental slap upside the head. They climbed up the ladder leading to the loading dock. Hibiki looked a little downtrodden as he remembered the entire things the other men said about his dreams. Kenny saw this, frowned, and said, "Hibiki, right now you and I are manlier than all those factory workers combined."

"Really, how so?" Hibiki asked coming out of his doldrums.

"You and I are actively causing change in our lives." Kenny explained as he pulled Hibiki over the ledge. "Where other men are happy to be cogs in the machine, we strive to make our mark on the world. We are the sort of men whom take destiny into their own hands and say 'I am going to make you my bitch.' So what do you say, Hibiki?"

"Yeah," Hibiki quietly cheered, "Let's do this."

They got near one of the loading ramps. They saw many supplies being loaded. Kenny cringed at the sight of a box of food pills. They past a worker he was complaining about the dust. "Hey that goes over here not over there." He shouted as he turned away from Hibiki and Kenny. The worker was about to say something to the stowaways when a blast of steam cut off his train of thought.

"Yes we are in." Hibiki stated as he knuckle bumped Kenny. The duo ran down the hall way and past a power relay station in the ship. They got past most of the security systems and made it to an intersection near their respective goals.

"This is where we have to split my friend." Kenny said as he stood near the right walkway, "do you think you can get that vanguard on your own?"

"Hell yeah I can." Hibiki stated as he turned to the left. He stopped and noticed his friend's sad face. "Hey what is the matter with you?"

"Hibiki I kind of lied to you." Kenny said getting his thoughts out, "I really did this bet to get off Tarak. You and your people have the ability to go into space and this ship is going to other worlds. This is my chance to see the universe, explore the cosmos, and meet new people. I cannot pass up an opportunity like this."

"While I am hurt that you would lie to your best friend," Hibiki stated slightly angry, "I do see what you are talking about." He held up his fist.

"To making destiny our bitch." They said in unison and knuckle bumped before parting ways.

Kenny made his way down the corridors and snuck past a few patrollers whom were complaining about not being in the main hall for the speech. Kenny thought the fear the men of Tarak had for women was a load of bullshit. Sure, he would admit that some were soul-sucking harpies but some were in fact very nice if treated right.

_Ah, ha I found the old brig at last!_ Kenny thought after a few minutes. He noticed the door was unguarded and unlocked. He walked inside and was appalled at how thing were stacked in there. "Come on phoenix where are you?" Kenny asked as he looked in the different cells. He then noticed one of the cells was properly packed. He walked in and said, "So that's where my baby girl has been hiding."

Hidden behind a wall of boxes and packing was his goal. It was a custom chopper designed to look like a firebird. The handlebar and headlight section was shaped like a bird head. The gas tank was painted like a fireball. The seat was leather and had a hotrod flame design stitched into it. The rims of the wheels looked like eagle talons. Some panels near the wheels allowed the bike to hover. The exhaust pipes were shaped like folded bird wings. This machines name was phoenix.

"Did you miss papa?" Kenny asked as he polished the gas tank.

Meanwhile on the other side of the ship, Hibiki had just gotten past a security door that he was having trouble with. He was rather smug about his ability to get past the so-called top security measures. He walked along the rows of vanguards wondering which one was the one he was after. On either side of him were giant humanoid robots. Their heads had only one optical sensor. Their arms had three fingered hands. Most had a sword sheathed on their backs.

"Okay where is that vanguard?" Hibiki said carefully searching the rows. "Did they not use the part when they saw the scratches?" Then out of the corner of his left eye, he saw his objective. "Oh there you are partner." He leapt toward the mecha saying, "I'm going to take you home with me right now."

The ship shook as the rocket boosters kicked in and sent the pride of Tarak skyward. The room Hibiki was in shifted and he went tumbling down. A pile of junk and discarded boxes fell on him. Hibiki uncovered his head and asked, "What the hell just happened?"

In the makeshift cargo hold, Kenny looked out the window and saw the ship was taking off. He looked at his watch and stated, "Oh my, someone must be impatient. We are taking off two hours earlier than expected." Kenny sat down, stroked his tail, and stated, "This might put a wrinkle into Hibiki's plans."

In the main hall, the academy graduates were celebrating the successful launch of the Ikazuchi. Some talked about relationships while others talked about their assignments while aboard. Two graduates were talking to a man with long blackish brown hair that covered his right eye. He like the others wore a dark grey suite and black boots. The suite was trimmed in red.

"So Duero," one of the graduates said, "Do you think you will be assigned to headquarters?"

"I heard he handed in his assignment form blank." The other stated.

Duero merely took a sip of his drink, not wanting to answer. The reason why he submitted it blank was the fact that none of the choices held his interest. At that moment, someone approached them and they apparently heard him as they turned to see a slightly shorter male with shock blond hair and blue eyes holding a box of peppermint colored nutrient pellets.

"Hey there, is everyone having a good time?" he asked cheerfully, to the cadets his voice sounded somewhat whiney and he seemed to be full of himself. He then pointed to the box in his hand.

"This is a sample of our company's new product, it's our own unique formula special nutrition tablet." he told them informatively, and then he leaned in and whispered conspiringly. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but the quality of ingredients is far superior to other pellets."

"I'll let you have a free taste if you like." he said taking one of the pellets and holding it out to them.

Two of the cadets gave a rather nervous look at the newcomer before handing out their individual replies to the guy in question.

"Uhh, thanks a lot but no thanks."

"Sorry, but I'm pretty full right now."

Their answers acted like nails, slowly flattening a tire. The young man briefly showed his disappointed before but stepped back and put the pill back in its box.

"Oh really? That's quite a shame, you may never get a chance to eat this good again." he said with a fake smile and a shrug of his shoulders before he turned his attention to two other cadets.

"Hey there, you two look like gentlemen of distinction!" he complemented getting their attention. "What do ya say? Want to try out this new pellet? I personally recommend it!" he offered. One turned his head with a slight annoyed look, matching the previous two before walking away with his friend with the young man following closely behind them.

"Who was that guy?" one asked in an annoyed tone.

"His name is Bart; his father runs the Garsus foods. Let's just say his company is keeping us all fed and not go any further than that."

"I think I'm getting a case of heart burn..." another cadet said as he clutched his chest in slight exaggeration.

The lights suddenly flicked off and a screen turned on behind the statue of Grand Pa as a voice over the intercom began to speak.

_"Gentleman please turn your attention to the large screen."_

A count down was briefly shown before the film began to play.

Tsukumo Version Van-Type Fighter

_"Stab, Pierce, And Slay! With these all-purpose accessories, the Tsukumo Van-Type Fighter is a weapon unto itself! It is ready to slam down the fist of justice upon our enemies! It is the soldier on the frontlines of our glorious Empire! Be it the skies, the seas, the plains, the mountains! There is no terrain that the pride of the Empire cannot traverse! The Tsukumo Version Van-Type Fighter! A new day dawns right before are very eyes."_ The film had shown many images showing off the Vanguards, which then ended with a group of young boys and older men cheering for the Vanguards.

The recruits and cadets shouted cheers of praise at the looks of the machines, excited to pilot such machines.

Bart just looked at the video in disbelief. "There so…dorky."

The same voice from the intercom spoke again. _"How about a big round of applause for our fleet of Taskumo Version Van-Type Fighters!"_

The curtains parted while the screen and banner lifted to reveal two gates opening to the side as the lights flicked on again and the Vanguards turned on platforms towards the crowd as they, except Duero, and Bart, continued to applause and cheer.

Suddenly the cheers and applauses stopped as the assembled men noticed a young blue feral haired Taraakan boy, who looked to be at least sixteen, clutching onto a Vanguard.

The boy choked out a nervous laugh at them as the rest of the crowd looked at with surprise and confusion.

"Isn't that a third class citizen?" one cadet shouted out.

The Prime Minister quickly stood up.

"What are you doing? Get that boy!" he shouted angrily.

A few guards began to swarm toward the unfortunate teen. The boy jumped off the Vanguard and tried to escape, kicking one of the guards away and dashed towards the statue, climbing it to get away from them. "Leave me alone! Get away from me!" he kicked another guard and kicked another's baton away while avoiding another one.

The recruits cheered, acting as if it was a show with Bart shouting from the crowd. "I'm rooting for you shorty!"

Duero just looked on for a moment with his hand resting against his chin before closing his eyes. "Pointless..."

Of course, that was not saying much considering he was up against such poorly trained guards.

Upon hearing Bart making fun of his height, the boy leapt from the statue and kneeing a guard in the face, heading towards the crowd with the intent of pounding on Bart. "Who the hell was the one to call me shorty!" he never made it to the crowd as a guard tackled him from behind.

He tried to push the guy off. "Dammit let go of me you bastard!" he growled angrily before a guard whacked him hard on the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.

(Scene change.)

On the command deck of the _Ikazuchi_, crewmembers worked at their stations as they fulfilled their tasks.

"The fleet is now approaching us!" reported a communications officer.

"Proceed to Half-Moon formation." ordered the first officer to the helmsmen.

A signal then sounded. "Captain on the bridge!" said a helmsman.

The Prime Minister along with the Supreme Commander entered the bridge via platform lift. "That runt turned our ceremony into a shamble!" He said angrily as the platform locked into position with two other officers facing him.

A message was received a short moment after the Minister's rant. "The escort ship Maborochi is hailing us with questions concerning the exhibition match sir." relayed the comms officer.

The Prime Minister extended his hand, palm flat. "The exhibition match is canceled! Order all ships to move into position."

"Yes sir!"

The minister grunted as his hands clenched into the arm rests of his chair. "That third class brat, he won't get away with ruining everything. He'll be publicly executed for this!"

(Scene change.)

Hibiki grunted in pain as he was tossed into a cluttered cell with green laser fences sealing him in. He kneeled up and looked at the guards angrily. "Bastards! Do not just dump me into some storage room! You could at least put me in a real jail!"

They simply looked at down at him. "This cell may be used for storage, but this is still a real brig so simmer down your highness!" one of the guards teased.

"They've decided to give you a public execution, and it won't be a quick and painless one." the second guard informed him with a smirk.

The guard on Hibiki's right turned his head to the side. "I-Type Number 6."

"Beep, Beep!" A small floating pod like robot floated over to them.

"Watch him understood?"

"Beep, Beep! Roger!" the robot replied as it took up its assigned position facing Hibiki in front of the cell.

The guards then left leaving Hibiki alone with the robot.

Hibiki sighed.

"Why do things always get messed up in my life?" he asked depressingly. He looked around to make sure the guards we're gone before turning to the robot, hoping to persuade the small pod like machine to let him out.

"Hey partner? Why don't you be a pal and let me out? We were both born in a factory right? So that means we are kind of like brothers right? Huh? Right?" he pleaded as he crawled towards the machine and begged on his and knees.

The machine just continued to float there. "We are composed of completely different materials, there for the term brothers is incorrect."

Hibiki blink and raised his hands to his sides. "I got this great generator I can install in you if you let me out of here!" he bowed his head and his hands into a lower as he continued to beg.

The robot's screen suddenly popped up a big red X. "Denied! The subject is making an improper request. Instigation of attempted bribery and escape are crimes! Therefore..."

Hibiki looked up in confusion. "Therefore...?" he asked with trepidation.

"...Punishment."

The small machine sent a bolt of electricity towards Hibiki who screamed as he received a painful shock.

"Well now aren't you in a pickle?" a voice said out of nowhere. Just then, a boot was placed on the robot, forcing it to the ground. Hibiki looked up to see Kenny standing over the robot and smiled. "They probably think a guy like you can't break his way out of this old cell."

"Hey get me out of here." Hibiki said happily, "That robot is not going to stay that way for long."

"Tell me Hibiki," Kenny sighed, "How does one learn when someone does your work for you?" he then kicked the bot into the beams and really short circuited the bot. "I'll give you the tools, but you are going to have to use them." The bot then fell into Hibiki's lap. Suddenly an explosion shook the ship and almost caused Kenny to pitch forward into the laser grid.

"What the hell was that?" Hibiki asked fearfully.

"The Ikazuchi is under attack." Kenny stated looking out a window.

The space around the Ikazuchi suddenly became a warzone as multiple ships leaving blue trails began attacking it.

(Scene change.)

To the surprise of everyone on the bridge the command deck shuddered as an explosion rocketed the ship.

"I gave an order to stop the exhibition!" yelled the thoroughly confused Prime Minister angrily.

"This isn't part of the exhibition!" replied an officer who was working furiously on his console.

"It's the women their mounting a surprise attack!" cried another with a panicked voice.

The Minister's face contorted with enraged disbelief. "WHAT?"

"Formation has been broken!" reported a crewmember.

"All ships! Guard the Ikazuchi!" ordered the Prime Minister.

"The enemy forces have broken through!" another officer yelled in panic.

(Scene change.)

In the deep vacuum of space, at some distance away from the battle was a sleek three-pronged red cruiser that was hiding among a nearby debris field that served as the main pirate vessel. It stood poised and ready to strike. Though the female pirates onboard were ready to intervene, they could already see that the Dread squadrons had everything under control. On the cruiser's command bridge, an old woman in robes smiled as she and her second in command witnessed the one sided battle.

"Well Captain, it looks like we've caught a big one." the silver haired commander remarked with a smile.

The captain raised her head.

"Hmm, today seems to be our lucky day."

(Scene change.)

The Dreads continued to fire and bombard the flagship while the men aboard were still in a state of panic. The various pulse laser turrets and artillery guns have little to no accuracy as the Dreads bobbed and weaved through the fire. Meanwhile on the bridge of the Ikazuchi.

"Escort ship _Hijiri_ has been destroyed!"

"The _Maborochi's_ down to!"

"The _Ikazuchi's_ new sections have been breached!"

"What deplorable tactics! They're hiding in the back ground fire." the Minister growled in disgust.

The commander next to him turned to the helmsmen. "Level off the _Ikazuchi_!"

"Send the Vanguards out!" the Prime Minister ordered to the communications officer.

"If we lose this battle because we don't use our latest weapons, then we'll bring shame to our fore fathers!" the Minister snarled as he looked at the commander with fury.

Sirens all across the ship sounded as the Minister's came over the intercom.

_"Attention cadets! It is time for you to reclaim you heritage! Take you positions and destroy the enemy!"_

As one, the cadets scrambled immediately to the launch areas of the Vanguard hanger. As the cadets in the locker room pulled on their pilot suits one of them turned to the cadet next to him.

"Has anyone seen Bart around?"

"Who cares?"

Back at the now empty main hall, a speaker blared out.

_"Switching to sub-zero gravity in order to launch the Vanguards! Standby for weightless conditions!"_

In that moment as the artificial gravity went off all the tables, chairs, and any other items that were not nailed down to the floor floated into the air along with Bart who screamed as he spiraled out of control.

A few well-placed lasers penetrated the hull of the _Ikazuchi_, setting fires in a few places of the ship. As the mechanic's worked to put out the fires, the bridge was analyzing the damages on the warship.

"Several deployment mechanisms in the runway are offline!" reported a bridge hand.

"Launch all the Vanguards we can!" ordered the Minister.

"What?" a Head mechanic for the Vanguard's turned around. "All pilots launch any Vanguard that's prepped and ready to go!"

The Pilots climbed into the machines as the arms closed and the head lowered. The legs were released from the locks and moved into the launch pads and ejected from the hanger while Bart watched on in amazement from his hiding place as the machines were jettisoned into battle.

Emerging from the _Ikazuchi_, several of the humanoid battle machines managed to make it into space and charged toward the Dreads. However, with just raw recruits with little combat experience outside of simulators, the Vanguards were nothing more than animated debris flying out uselessly in space and were no threat to the Dreads. A few managed to latch onto some of the Dreads as they passed by the Vanguards, but without the proper training, experience, or weapons, they could do little to stop the Dreads.

"Hey, what are these things? They're getting in my way!" shouted a suited Dread pilot as she spotted several Vanguards were pounding their fists on the canopy of her Dread.

"Don't worry about the Vanguard's. Concentrate on the enemy flagship." ordered The Dread team leader in a cool tone as she kept her focus and calm.

"Roger!"

Two of the Dreads accompanied their leader's Dread as they made a strafing run at the _Ikazuchi_.

At that moment, Hibiki had just shorted out the laser grid to his cell.

"Never underestimate a mechanic's know-how!" he boasted, grinning in triumph.

"See I knew you could do it." Kenny said smugly.

He slowly got up and started to run but stopped and turned to look at the small robot that zapped him a bit ago as it with pity as it continued to make a noise, that to him, sounded like someone in pain.

"That bot probably has some rare parts inside it." Kenny reasoned, "We should take it just so the pirates do not get a hold of it."

"Right," Hibiki said as he picked the bot up, "Lets ride."

(Scene change.)

The Dreads swarmed in with one Dread flying to the rear section of the _Ikazuchi_ and launched its attack.

A section of the outer hull was blasted apart by the attack and with that, the fighters dashed straight into the opening.

_"Hull breach in Sector Three! Electromagnetic walls activating!"_ a petty officer shouted through the emergency line as the anti-breach walls locked in to prevent the loss of needed air, which would escape to space.

One of the Dreads grazed the statue causing Bart, who was now hiding in it, to whimper in fear.

(Scene change.)

An alert klaxon sounded as a red light continuously flashed in the corridor.

_"Intruder Alert! All able personnel are to proceed to the Hangar Section of the Ikazuchi!"_

"What the hell's going on with this place?" screamed Hibiki as he and Kenny rode phoenix down a hallway while carrying the little robot under his arm. "We got to get outta here!"

Kenny stopped against a wall, looking for an escape route.

(Scene change.)

A switch was turned and the gravity to the cargo bay and hanger was restored.

"Cargo bay gravity restored! Prepare to engage the enemy directly!" shouted a sweating petty officer into the intercom phone, clutching a battle rifle tightly. He turned around just in time to see the canopies of the Dreads opening and Dread pilots disembarking from their craft, moving forward to secure the area. They were dressed in formless space suits and facemask/helmets with fierce monster designs, made solely to instill fear in their enemies, men.

As the sound weapons fire was heard Bart suddenly tumbled out of his little hiding place, which was inside the hollow base of the statue of Grand Pa. He then looked in shock at the sight of the monsters he believed to be women.

"T-THOSE THINGS ARE WOMEN?" he cried out in terror as he saw the enemies of men for the first time.

It was just then that he looked behind him and saw a blue Dread barreling through the hull breach and flying straight at him at breakneck speed while scrapping against the wall. Which were all easy signs of an amateur pilot.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH! I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Bart screamed as he scrambled back inside the statue. A second later, the fighter sliced clean off the head of the statue. After it passed the cowardly cadet's head rose through the new opening, revealing a very alive Bart who paled at the near miss.

The deadly firefight ensued as men from a control fired their semi-automatic rifles at the women, while the women returned the favor with lances of pink laser fire from their laser rings. The battle was at a standoff as the men were putting up a serious but were missing their targets for the most part until one lucky bullet pierced the arm of a woman's suit.

Both women then looked behind them and saw two of their Dreads flying uncontrollably toward a bulkhead.

"AAAhhh! I can't stop!" screamed the female pilot seeing that she was about to ram into the wall and fired her Dread's weapons in blind panic.

"The throttle is jammed! Get out of the way!" the other pilot shrieked as she was in the same situation.

(Scene change the Paksis core room…)

Hibiki and Kenny was driving along a catwalk panting while carrying the robot and trying to find a way out.

"Th-there's no way I'm going to let myself die in a place like this!" he and Kenny continued to ride until he saw the wall above him being burned through then exploded, blowing the catwalk and them away, losing his grip on the robot.

"AHHHH!" they screamed in unison.

(Scene change The Bridge…)

A lever rose up from a panel at the bridge commander's panel.

"Minister! Please! You mustn't do this!" the commander begged.

"We can't afford to let the entire ship be captured by our enemy's hands. I must at least save the new section of the _Ikazuchi_." he said solemnly with his eyes closed as fake tears glistened around them while he grabbed hold of the large lever.

One of the bridge crew gulped.

"Before everything falls into the hands of females, I'll separate the old from the new!" he declared.

Without hesitation, he pushed the lever forward.

The locks holding together the _Ikazuchi_ detonated and began to detach while the crew on the old section watched in horror as their leaders with the new section of the ship that was ejected abandon them into space.

Panic then ensued.

"What's going on?"

"The ship's falling apart!"

"What are we supposed to do?"

The only cadet that showed no surprise or fear of this event was Duero who simply narrowed his eyes.

(Scene change the Paksis core room…)

Hibiki began coming to, lifting his hand to rub his eyes when his hand brushed something. He instinctively grabbed it, squeezed a few times, and felt that it was something that was round, warm, and… rather firm yet pliable.

Hibiki then opened his eyes.

"Huh? What the heck is this?" he looked at the round thing curiously then he noticed that it was attached to something…or rather _someone_.

"Hibiki," A voice to his left said in an accusatorial voice, "You're supposed to date a woman for at least a year before you feel them up."

Hibiki looked over to his left and saw Kenny lying on his side with a strange being on top of him. His eyes moved up and saw a weird mask looking at him.

With a panicked yell, he pushed the form on top of him off and began to crawl away. He tried to drag Kenny away. "I-IT'S A MONSTER!"

"WAIT!" said a light female voice.

He stopped and looked back to see the thing remove its face ... or rather mask, revealing a beautiful young teen girl with red hair.

She looked at him with glee in her eyes. "Wow! It's a pair of real live aliens!"

He stared at the girl as if she was insane. "Huh? What...? Aliens...?"

She let out a small giggle then raised her hand and made weird gestures, which he figured was her way of greeting so he and Kenny hesitantly repeated them.

She clasped her hands together with joy.

"I did it! It worked! I made first contact!" she said happily.

He chuckled a bit with that same look as before, grabbed the robot, and ran off, jumping on to another catwalk.

"See ya!"

"Wait I want to take a picture!" she said quickly took off her suit and started chasing after him. Kenny was about to give chase when he heard a groan beside him.

"Ow," the woman moaned as she sat up. "I have not had a headache this bad since Parfait did a lecture on engine care."

"Let me help you with that." Kenny said kindly as he helped the woman remove her helmet. When it was off, he saw she had strawberry blond hair. Her deep emerald eyes looked Kenny all over. She then latched onto Kenny so suddenly that he thought she had teleported out of her space suite and around his neck.

"Aw," she squealed ash she rubbed her cheek against his; "You're a cute kitty aren't you. Yes you are, yes you are."

Neither group noticed that the Paksis started ominously glowing.

(Scene change Vanguard hangar…)

A Taraakan cadet flinched as a laser whizzed by his head and burned a small hole on the wall missing him by a few inches, which prompted him to raise his hands up.

"Don't move!" ordered a woman.

"Stay where you are!" commanded a second.

"We'll shoot if you try anything funny!" warned a third.

A few women armed with long round shaped rifles stood guard with their weapons trained on a cluster of prisoners they gathered. Four of the women shed their suits revealing one to be a teen with light blue colored boyish styled hair, wearing a pilot suit and a metal circlet around her left eye. The other, was a large chested blond haired woman that wore a form-fitting dress that left very little to the imagination. Another was a brown-haired woman with a bob hairstyle that wore an outfit that was cross between a scuba suite and a track runner's uniform. The last had black hair and wore a kimono like dress.

"I know it's a disinfectant but I don't think I will ever get use to this smell." the blond women whined while fixing her long hair.

The light blue haired women ignored her as she looked around the hanger as if searching for someone.

"Where'd Dita go?" she asked.

"The last I saw of her she and Alicia were blasting their way through the hull and thanks to that we got- Ow! That really hurt Paiway my skins very delicate I'll have you know!" said a dark green haired women in a slim purple suit, glaring at a younger girl with dark gray hair which were held in large odongos that framed her head, who appeared to be a nurse as she was bandaging the other girl's arm.

"Just try to tolerate it." replied the black haired girl named Paiway.

Duero stopped to look at them and analyzed the small girl for a moment noting her lack of experience.

"Nurses should be a little more sensitive!" complained the green haired women as she gritted her teeth.

"I am sensitive!" she assured with a little whine.

One of the guards noticed that Duero was not walking.

"Hey keep moving!"

Duero gave the small nurse one last look before he grunted and moved along.

(Scene change In another part of the_ Ikazuchi_…)

Three suited Mejerian pirates walked into what appeared to be an older bridge of the _Ikazuchi_. As they approached the consoles in front of them, they started to remove their suits. The first one to remove her suit was a silver haired tan woman wearing a purple jewel on the middle of her forehead and a larger green one on a chocker that was wrapped around a neck tight collar. She also wore over the ankle boots, loose blue pants, and a blue tank top that ended in an inverted v at the bottom that gave a view of her belly.

"I don't believe it, nothings been touched here!" said the second one now removing her suit, revealing a light brown-haired woman with a green bow on her head and wearing a normal dress.

"Then it appears what we found isn't the main bridge." observed the silver haired woman who was pulling out a communicator just as the third pirate removed her suit showing a younger girl with dark brown hair tied into large pigtails, wearing a mechanics suit.

"Captain this is Buzam, the men escaped by splitting the ship in two and we gained access to some sort of sub-bridge." reported the silver haired woman, now known as Buzam, as she worked on a console.

As they accessed the logs, they found a language that they cannot comprehend.

"Oh my! What should we do, I can't read a word of this..." said the woman with the bow on her head in dismay as she looked at the Tarak men's language that scrolled down on the screens.

The girl with glasses smiled. "Just leave it to me! I Knew something like this would happen so I created this interpreter." she said as she brought out a strange device with white eye pieces.

She then turned to Buzam. "I'll set one up for you too commander!"

Then she frowned when she saw Buzam already decoding the data.

"Meia give me a status report." she said over the communicator while typing on the console.

_"The men have all been secured."_ Meia replied.

"Dump them." ordered Buzam.

_"Roger."_

"You mean you can read this stuff?" gasped the girl with glasses in amazement.

"That's the elite for you." commented the girl with the bow as she shrugged her shoulders.

"No fair! And after I made this device too!" pouted the mechanic as she sighed in disappointment.

(Scene change Paksis Core…)

Hibiki was still running full throttle from the red headed girl, jumping down beams and catwalks as he did so.

"Sorry! But I don't feel like having my guts eaten by women today!" he panted as continued to run from the girl.

Unfortunately, for him, this girl did not seem to be the type who gives up easily.

"Mr. Alien! Let's sit down and have a little chat!" she shouted excitedly as she continued to chase after him.

Not slowing down he looked back at her from the corner of his eye with him coming to one conclusion.

"Women are scary!"

Back near the core, Kenny was making his way to his friend. Alicia was hanging on tight to Kenny as he drove in the direction that Dita and hibiki went. It was slow going as the girl was stroking Kenny's tail. His eye twitched as he tried to concentrate.

(Scene change New section of the _Ikazuchi_…)

Back on the other half of the Taraakan Flagship, one bridge officer was monitoring the pirate's main ship as it flew towards the older half of the _Ikazuchi_ they ejected on the radar.

"The Mejere ship is heading for the old section." he reported.

"Data is being transferred." another informed.

"Those females move fast don't they?" remarked the prime minister as he sat on the command chair.

"Prepare to fire a torpedo, the Muramasa!" he ordered .

The commander looked at him with shock. "Minister are you actually going to destroy the old section?!"

The minister closed his eyes with his slightly tilted down before he looked back up, rage in his eyes as one of them twitched.

"I'd rather destroy it with my own hands then let it fall into the hands of women!"

(Scene change Core room…)

Hibiki was running with robot in hand until his satchel was caught on some loose nails from a wall.

"You don't know when to give up!" he said through gritted teeth. After a brief struggle he tore the strap of his satchel freeing himself he continued to run for his life without even bothering to pick up the satchel that fell on the ground.

Still following closely behind him the red head continued pursuing the "alien" with a disk shaped camera in hand. She brought the camera to her face and snapped a couple shots at Hibiki's retreating back as she ran.

"Hey, Mr. Alien! Why are running away? We are really a peaceful race! Honestly!"

"Not only are women are the scariest things I've ever seen, but they don't make any sense either!" he said to himself as he ran.

"Wow those two can sure run fast." Kenny commented as he followed the two.

"Uh huh." Alicia sighed dreamily.

(Scene change Hanger…)

Duero opened a locker and pulled out a coat with a red cross on it, slipping his arms into the sleeves and putting it on.

One of the women noticed this and pointed her rifle at him. "Don't get out of line, get into the capsule now."

He simply adjusted the coat to his comfort. "There's time enough for that later."

She blinked in surprise before she raised her rifle in a threatening manner.

"You better start cooperating with us, get into the capsule now!" she ordered, doing a poor job of trying to sound intimidating.

"I'm no threat to you." he replied calmly.

He then turned around and simply smirked. "I happen to be a doctor."

This made the guard lower her weapon slightly and the other pirates turn to stare at the young Tarak medical graduate in surprise.

(Scene change.)

The escape pods launched without Duero and headed toward the Tarak controlled half of the _Ikazuchi_.

A crewmember monitoring the radar noticed this.

"Escape pods have been launched from the old section of the ship!"

"Is this their way of showing us pity?" asked the Minister bitterly to no in particular with his head on his fist.

"Perhaps there is a peaceful way to resolve this battle." suggested the commander.

Though, it seemed that the suggestion had fallen on deaf ears as the Minister ignored him and shifted his gaze out the corner of his eye.

"Isn't the Muramasa ready yet?" he asked impatiently.

"Report!" barked the commander.

"Determining the coordinates for the target." replied the tactical officer.

The targeting scanners were slowly acquiring a lock on the Muramasa missile's target.

(Scene change Hangar…)

"I was sort of looking forward to this because they said this was going to be big, but this is all junk!" said the blonde-haired person in a droll tone while leaning on a collapsed Vanguard with a very familiar mark on it.

"Jura." called the light blue haired teen and the blond known as Jura looked to her.

"Carole and I are going to go look for Dita and Alicia, let's go." ordered the light blue haired girl as she and The kimono wearing teen knelt by the breach caused by the blue and purple Dreads earlier.

"Oh brother, this is why I didn't want to bring along a couple of trainees." Jura sighed. The brown haired woman nodded.

Carole turned and looked up at the two of them.

"Listen Jura, we're short-handed as it is if you and Sahara didn't want to be here you should've spoken up earlier." she scolded.

"Okay you don't have to yell! You want us to go right?" Sahara pouted. Jura just shrugged.

(Scene change.)

A hatch opened up as the new section of the _Ikazuchi_ prepared to fire the missile.

(Scene change.)

The brunette women in the dress gasped as she caught onto the lock on signal.

"Oh my ... looks like they're aiming a missile at us." she said with worry.

"What? Parfait is it possible to move the ship?" the silver haired woman asked the engineer with glasses.

"I'm afraid not, the engines dead." Parfait replied with a shrug.

The silver haired woman growled and turned on her communicator.

"What do we do?" she asked her captain.

(Scene change.)

"I see it, losing the ship will be a shame but..." she looked up.

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!"

The red pirate ship then moved in toward the old section of the _Ikazuchi_.

(Scene change.)

"Copy that! Did you hear Meia?" she asked over the communicator.

(Scene change Core room…)

"I've lost Dita and Alicia, I'll rendezvous with you as soon as I find them so go on ahead." said the light bluenette teen who was now known as Meia.

She, Jura, Sahara and Carole were standing on twisted walkway near were the blue and purple Dreads were sticking out from the wall. Suddenly the four of them heard a scream from below them and looked to see what was going on.

Hibiki as before was running away from the red head, desperately trying to lose her.

"Stop following me!" he yelled at her as he ran.

"Mr. Alien, wait!"

"Dita…!" Meia called, identifying the red head, but it fell on deaf ears.

"You see that Meia. She's chasing a man." Jura noted dryly as she looked and gave Meia a sidelong glance.

"Would you stop petting me?" a male voice shouted over the sound of an engine.

The four looked to the right and saw Alicia clinging to a cat like man. She was stroking his tail as they drove after Dita and hibiki.

Sahara smirked and said, "It would seem like Alicia has found her souvenir."

"This is no time to joke Sahara." Carole scolded.

(Scene change Hanger…)

Duero had just finished bandaging the wound on the arm of the dark green haired female's arm.

"That should do it." he said. Then he looked at the green haired teen with an analyzing eye.

The teen in question found it weird and leaned away.

"Wha-What, is it? Is there something interesting about me?" she asked in annoyance.

"Yes, quite interesting."

"Just don't expect any thanks!"

"I don't. I suppose I'll go now."

At the same time, Paiway was watching Duero as the whole played out before.

"He touched a total of five girls." she whispered to herself while writing in her notebook.

Then the ship shuddered and the sound of explosions was heard catching them all by surprise.

(Scene change.)

The Mejerian pirate ship opened fired on the men's half of the _Ikazuchi_ as the pirates moved toward the older section to retrieve their comrades.

(Scene change.)

The bridge shuddered as weapons fire impacted the ship.

"Starboard control has been lost!"

"The pirates are approaching the old section of the ship!"

"The missiles?" asked the Minister.

"Sir they're still fueling!" the weapons officer replied.

"It has more than enough! Target the old section and fire!" he shouted.

(Scene change)

As the missiles streamed towards the old section of the ship, the pirates began to extract their crews from the ship.

"Crew extraction commenced." reported a woman who was watching over a console that showed the extraction tube.

"Three hundred seconds till missiles impact." said another watching over the missiles course.

"B.C.?" called the old captain to her second in command.

(Scene change.)

"I'm the only one left from my team, three members under Meia and Carole have yet to return." the silvered hair reported, finally known as B.C.

_"They'll have to return in their Dreads, return to the ship now!"_ the captain ordered.

"Roger!"

(Scene Change.)

Kenny stopped near a sharp turn and tried to pry the woman off him. However, every time he got her to let go, she would grab onto a different part of him. He heard footfalls approaching them and felt relieved that someone would help him. Two women came running up and looked at him fearfully. One was a brown-haired woman with a bob hairstyle that wore an outfit that was cross between a scuba suite and a track runner's uniform. The other had black hair and wore a kimono like dress.

"Alicia," the kimono wearing woman shouted, "Get away from him now." She pointed a semi auto pistol at Kenny.

"Carole," Alicia whined with a pleading look in her eyes, "Please don't hurt Mr. Kitty."

"Mr. Kitty?" Kenny asked as the brown-haired woman pulled Alicia away.

"I swear Alicia," Sahara said as she shook her head, "Your obsession with all things furry is as bad as Dita's obsession with aliens."

"Speaking of your red haired friend," Kenny interrupted, "She went that way." He pointed down a hall and the three women nodded.

A fleeing Hibiki with robot in hand was still looking for a way out and away from the crazy woman behind him when noticed a pile of debris near an exit.

_Yes! I can climb up that stuff, get away from that crazy innards-sucking woman, and find my partner!_

He made his way toward the debris and to apparent freedom. He was half way up and looked back only to Dita gaining on him. Luck was with him though as another woman tackled the red head.

"Dita," Meia scolded her squad mate, "What do you think you're doing? This ship has been fired upon."

Back with Kenny, he heard the news and was shocked to say the least.

"Wait what?" he shouted in disbelief, "What do you mean we have been fired upon?"

"Just what it sounds like." Carole stated as she and her crew ran to their dreads. "The men in the new section of this ship shot a couple of missiles at this section."

"That bastard son of a yellow eel!" Kenny roared in outrage, "When I get my hands on that shit faced prime minister, I'm going to tear him limb from limb and skin him alive."

"_Dita has been found._" Meia stated over the comms link, "_We are heading to the dreads now._"

"Roger." Carole stated back.

Meia collected her charge as she tried to go after hibiki. She then berated the young girl and after Dita apologized, they all quickly made their way to their Dreads, as they needed to evacuate. Hibiki likewise found his Vanguard and quickly boarded it as the time continued to count down from 300 seconds to 150 seconds and the crew of the pirate ship was already out of the Ikazuchi.

However there were two problems, one was the fact that the young man didn't know how to pilot his Vanguard…and the redhead's Dread fighter was stuck in the wall…apparently several jagged pieces of metal had held the ends of her Dread tight and couldn't allow her to escape. Hibiki tried his best to move the Vanguard, while Dita and Alicia tried their best to free their Dreads, Meia, Jura, Carole and Sahara could not go anywhere and leave their friends so they stayed and hoped that somehow, their comrade could escape…though they all knew that they were already too late.

"I'll try to get you out." Kenny shouted to Alicia as he pulled on the bulkhead.

"Help me please." Alicia screamed.

"Damn it! Move!" hibiki shouted at the mech.

"Please move!" Dita pleaded to her dread.

The cries from the youths caused the Paksis core to glow brightly.

(Scene change the pirate ship…)

"We can't avoid a direct hit!" One of the Bridge crew declared as she tracked the missiles aimed at them.

"Hit or miss, it's our destiny." The old captain said as she prepared for the worst to occur, as the torpedoes were too close for them to avoid.

The torpedoes slammed into the ship and the explosion consumed both the Ikazuchi… and the Mengele cruiser. The men saluted the destruction of the Ikazuchi and watched as the scanners told them that mass were being lost in a matter of seconds. The Prime Minister sighed and replied as the scene ended with the explosion faded away.

"The price was high…but we are now rid of those vile pirates…May chaos deal with them in the way that befits their crimes to all men of Tarak."

(Scene change the place between places…)

[Background music start: legend of Zelda: symphony: great fairy fountain theme.]

"Where am I?" Kenny asked as he floated in a blue green sea like space. "This place again? What am I doing here?" he looked around and saw four figures around him. They were Alicia, Carole, Sahara and the nav-bot.

The robot spoke to him first, "_You who would go against the heavens._"

Alicia spoke next, "_You must help to unite these people._"

Carole then said her piece, "_A foe approaches that they cannot take on separately._"

Sahara spoke up, "_Only when their hearts and minds become one will the guardians awaken._"

"What do you want me to do?" Kenny asked fearfully. "That is a big mission you have for me. How can I unite them when they fear and hate each other?"

The four figures spoke as one, "_Show them the way._" The four merged into one and everything went black.

(End Chapter.)


End file.
